Pricing/Availability: Slightly less expensive than White Oak, Red Oak is in good/sustainable supply and is moderately priced. Thicker 8/4 planks, or quartersawn boards are slightly more expensive per board foot.

Sustainability: This wood species is not listed in the CITES Appendices or on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Comments: Water Oak falls into the red oak group, and shares many of the same traits as Red Oak (Quercus rubra). Red Oak, along with its brother White Oak, are commonly used domestic lumber species. Hard, strong, and moderately priced, Red Oak presents an exceptional value to woodworkers—which explains why it is so widely used in cabinet and furniture making.

4 Comments

Water oak is the most common oak species in my area of Atlanta. As an arborist and woodworker I look at a lot of nice big straight Quercus Nigra logs and wonder how the wood is favored among the oaks. All I have ever heard is that it is inferior to red and white. True or false? Is it less stable? Prone to checking, warping, bowing, twisting like they say? I have a beautiful 36″ log to saw and think I’ll give it a try. Reply?

Itch Mites
Itch mites are a fairly new insect discovery, first noted in 2004, according to University of Nebraska at Lincoln Extension. They are microscopic insects that will bite humans causing itching and irritation. The oak leaf gall mite feeds on the larva of midges. More than 16,000 mites can fall from a single infected leaf, according to UNL Extension. The mites can land on people causing painful, itching bites. Mites need about four hours on a human before they start biting.

ok, this one time i was out campin g and there was nothing around so i sat under a tree and turns out it was a water oak tree and you know what it did……. IT BIT ME and there was no bug under me ya so that is my experience with water oak trees.